Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Royal Mountain Travel Magazine Issue 3 | Page 62

Getting Around Kathmandu by Local Transport

Now you have been in the capital for a few days, and you have
the hang of the things to do in Kathmandu, you might wish to
venture on a Kathmandu tour in some other mode of public
transportation. Well, first let’s see how you do traveling on a
tempo. These are snappy little vehicles with sitting arrangements
for ten or so. They travel fixed routes around the city and will
stop wherever you want to get on, stops and so forth be damned
(though maybe not it there’s a traffic policeman in sight). Actually,
this is the case with the micro- and mini-buses as well. All of
them go out of their way to ensure passenger convenience by
picking them up wherever they can be found, though nowadays,
usually only dropping them off where there are the newly-built
bus stops along the route. Okay, you’re flagging down a tempo
and you notice that there seems to be no place for you. You are
wrong. It only looks full. See, there are only four people on one
side, so, yes, get in, you’ll squeeze in. You do so. Nobody minds,
since that’s the norm, and facing the five passengers opposite
your bench, you are off on a tempo ride. Thankfully, with recent
improvements in some of the roads, you might not be feeling all
that uncomfortable. Only, the closeness of your co-passengers
might be a bit of a bother. But, that’s something you should take
in your stride, as it will perhaps be a new experience for you. In
this cyber world, it’s good to be close to other humans, don’t you
think? Well, that’s your tempo tour, a humanizing experience
of your Nepal travel and a good way to take a Kathmandu tour.
Next, want to try out the micro-and mini-buses? Well, they are
both very popular modes of public transport round Kathmandu,
but if you are a Caucasian, it might not be really advisable to
board a micro if you’re around the six feet mark in height, or
you have legs longer than what’s usual round here. Meaning,
the micro has a really low roof, and seating arrangements within
its narrow confines have been designed with fiscal viability in
mind. Meaning, they are crammed much too close for comfort,
and what’s more, there’s even a bench to sit five more alongside
the seats facing in front. So, if you ride a micro if you are a
Caucasian, you’ll not only be putting yourself through a torturous
ride, you’ll also be making others more uncomfortable than they
already are.
Take a mini instead. These are much more spacious, but, still,
financial viability comes before all else, and you’ll discover local
ingenuity in the way the seating capacity has been expanded.
Comfort, actually, is really not the priority, doesn’t even figure
in the list, as far as they are concerned. Well, till the bigger
buses increase in number and schedules, and depending on
how soon the ongoing expansion of the roads is completed,

62

www.royalmt.com.np

May 2014

the tempos, the micros, and the minis will continue to play
a crucial role in providing economical transportation for the
locals. Which, one must admit, they have been doing for quite
some time now. Without them, life would be impossible in
the capital, so perhaps we can begrudge them some of their
faults, the major one being their complete disregard for seating
capacity and number of passengers. The other problem is their
enthusiasm to outrace each other so as to pick up the most
passengers. However, it must be mentioned here that there
are a couple of minibus companies that are really comfortable,
in which seating capacity matches passenger pick-ups most
of the time, and they run on schedule. One such example is
the Lalitpur minibus system that starts from Patan Dhoka and
go around the capital on different routes, covering most of the
important places. Look out for these white-colored angels of
mercy as they’re doing a good job. Wherever you can, hop in
and enjoy your Kathmandu tour.
Then there are the buses. Now, don’t expect bus transport as
you are used to back home. Once upon a time, there was a Sajha
bus system running around the capital. Blue in color, the buses
were do